Summer Explorations: Sample Day

Ideaventions offers innovative STEM camps. See what a typical day at camp is like.

SUMMER EXPLORATIONS(RISING 1ST - RISING 6TH GRADES)​

Sample Day

Camp days are structured around two 1.25-hour Science/Engineering Labs and a 1.25 hour Computing Lab. Additionally, every day includes outdoor play (weather permitting), a creative arts and crafts activity and plenty of breaks. There is always plenty of time for explorer-led discovery and freestyle creating! Each day will have a different timetable as groups rotate for Outdoor Education time.

Example Day

8:30 – 9:00 ARTS AND CRAFTS ACTIVITY

9:00 – 10:15 SCIENCE/ENGINEERING LAB 1

10:15 - 10:30 BREAK

10:30 – 11:45 OUTDOOR EDUCATION AND PLAY*

11:45 – 12:45 LUNCH AND BREAK

12:45 – 2:00 SCIENCE/ENGINEERING LAB 2

2:00 – 3:15 COMPUTING LAB

3:15 - 3:30 CLEAN UP

3:15 - 3:30 PICK-UP FROM IDEAVENTIONS™ SCIENCE CENTER

*Weather permitting – in case of extreme heat or inclement weather, the outdoor education will be substituted with other appropriate indoor activities.

Sample Activities: These are excerpts from our daily updates from past camps.

Rocketry and Space​ Day 5 Focus: Space Colony

Today explorers completed their journey through space by imagining what it would be like to live in outer space - specifically, on the moon. We began the morning by playing a Crash Landing game where explorers had to decide what supplies to keep and what to leave behind when their lander crashed far from the moon colony. Explorers were surprised that some of our emergency supplies on Earth won't do much for us up on the moon (matches, compass, etc). We then discussed why life on the moon is so difficult compared to our Earth - a near perfect biosphere. Explorers learned about self-contained systems and created their own biosphere. They came up with the idea to represent animal life, the only ingredient we were missing, with animals made of craft supplies - it was a great addition!

In the afternoon we brainstormed ideas for what we would need living in the moon colony. Then explorers were set loose to create their own lunar habitats with any materials they could find- we had great results that showcased a lot of imagination!

Finally, the explorers finished up their SAM Animation videos and made a quick video telling us their favorite parts about Space Exploration camp.

Operation Spy Day 3 Focus: Dead Drops

We started off the day by finishing up our dead drops - the spies were really dedicated to making sure their plaster molds resembled real rocks! It was amazing to see how hard they worked on what was meant to be a quick decorating activity. We then put the scientific method into action and set up an activity to test a variety of invisible inks. Spies predicted which materials (lemon juice, baking soda, crayons, or potato water) would create the best invisible ink, making sample secret messages with each type. We then got to work decoding and discussing our results. The spies seemed surprised at how well the simple combination of white crayon and markers worked, but most picked the baking soda and cabbage juice as their favorite (in spite of the smell!) Outdoors, we headed to Lake Fairfax park to finally put our dead drop rocks to use by hiding and searching with partners. Our spies had created excellent camouflage for their dead drops - so good that one is still missing somewhere! During free time the spies were excited to find a school of fish by the lake and spent most of their time devising fishing strategies...

In computer time, the spies got to work imagining the full story of their Scratch videos. They laid out their ideas on storyboards and completed a final tutorial with Mr. Doug so they'll be prepared to jump into programming tomorrow. They ended their time with some CIA computer games to continue honing their observational skills! We ended the day by creating a final hidden code, a word grille. We also watched a quick video on lasers, which the spies are excited to delve into tomorrow!

Inventors Lab Day 2 Focus: Innovation & Alexander Graham Bell

We started out Day 2 with an introduction to innovation, discussing how this can mean new things, like we explored yesterday, or new methods. We started off with a game to better understood what we meant by "methods" - the inventors were split into two groups and challenged to come up with the fastest way to have every member of the group touch a ball, with only one person touching at a time. The inventors were challenged to think beyond their first idea - simply passing the ball around a circle - to faster methods (crouching close to the ball and tapping it with a finger, determining an order, etc). The inventors got very excited about the competition and beating their team's fastest times - they were excited to break the 2 second mark by the end of the activity! We then presented a more difficult challenge - rescuing a "pet turtle" stuffed animal from the bottom of a "drain pipe" (cardboard poster tube). The inventors each attempted to create the best retrieval contraption possible using coat hangers, pipe cleaners, rulers, tape, etc. This was a great way to learn about using trial and error and thinking through potential outcomes to problem solve. Congratulations to McKenzie for being our turtle's first rescuer!

After snack, we moved into our inventor of the day - Alexander Graham Bell (a swap from the original schedule due to the weather). The inventors read "Listen Up!" to learn about the invention of the telephone, then watched a short video. Along with learning the story of Alexander Graham Bell, inventors were introduced to vibrations and the movement of sound. We finished off the morning by teaming up to make classic sting-and-cup telephones and experimenting with different variables (width of string, distance crossed, tautness of string, etc) to create the best possible phone system.

After lunch, we headed to Lake Fairfax to spend some more time testing our phones, and then enjoyed quick games of soccer and catch. We concluded our day by coming back to the center and learning about Rube Goldberg machines. The inventors really enjoyed the chain reaction video we watched and set to work sketching their own ideas. We ended by starting work on clay models of the parts of our machines (we will use these to make a stop motion video later in the week). We look forward to exploring George Eastman and the camera tomorrow!

Ancient Civilizations Day 4 Focus: The Mayans

Today we focused on Ancient mesoamerica, particularly the Mayans. We started off our day by learning where the Mayans lived and some of the things they are known for. We discussed the importance of astronomy in Mayan culture and used Stellarium software to look at constellations and discuss celestial navigation. The explorers really enjoyed searching the sky for constellations they could recognize - many of them asked me to let them know how to get the software! It is available here (free download): http://www.stellarium.org/.

Next, we examined photos of Chichen Itza and learned about differences between Mayan and Egyptian pyramids. Explorers were then challenged to build their own terraced sugar cube pyramid to take home at the end of the day. Mr. Vernon's group enjoyed the outdoors briefly in the morning before the heat really kicked in. Ms. Jordan's group stayed inside and moved north, learning about Thule culture and the invention of the first "sunglasses". Explorers made their own paper sun blockers to attempt to block a "snowy" glare (from white paper). The results were mixed, but everyone enjoyed laughing at each other while wearing their paper shades!

In robotics, the explorers were finally introduced to the maze through which their robots must navigate. It was hard work learning how to program the robots precisely enough to take tight turns, drive specific distances, etc, but the explorers made good progress. One team made it halfway through - we will all try to finish the maze by tomorrow! For the afternoon science lab, we revisited our apple mummification project from Monday. The explorers enjoyed seeing their dehydrated (or rotten, as the case sometimes was) apples. They learned that salt worked best overall, though some of the older group's experimental materials had surprisingly effective results (even the grass seed!) To finish the day, we returned to a few projects the explorers ran out of time for earlier in the week. Ms. Jordan's group discussed Egyptian paper making and then made their own recycled paper. The highlight of my day was definitely when they decided to use their blotting sponges to clean the room! Mr.Vernon's group finally had the chance to dissect owl pellets. Once they got past the initial ick factor, they did a great job unearthing and matching bones, and as many of you saw, became very absorbed in the dissection!

Chemical Reactions Day 2 Focus: Electrochemistry

Today explorers made some shocking discoveries about chemistry and electricity! We started our day stirring up batches of conductive play doh. This play doh included a twist on the traditional recipe - lots of salt! This made our dough a good conductor and the perfect material for our circuit exploration lab with Ms. Allie. Explorers acted out the flow of electrons through complete and incomplete circuits, learning the basic components required to create a simple working circuit. Explorers were challenged to think outside the box and realize that while traditional circuits use wires, any conductor will do - even dough! They created an insulating sugar dough, then combined it with our conductive salt dough. Explorers then had all the components they need to create a "squishy circuit" that used a battery pack to light up an LED!

In computing, explorers continued their science websites! The students have chosen various themes, ranging from crystals and rocks to the periodic table to famous chemists, which today they learned how to illustrate using images and text on their website. They also learned how to change the background design. Next up we will be learning how to add more pages to our website!

Our second science lab with Ms. Aisha introduced explorers to electrolysis. Building on their knowledge of electrons, explorers learned how atoms share electrons in covalent bonds. They then set up an experiment to demonstrate how electricity can be used to break these bonds. Using a battery pack, gator clips, and pencil lead, explorers ran an electric current through salt water and observed the bubbles of released hydrogen and oxygen. Explorers deduced that the "bubblier" side contained the more abundant hydrogen gas. They concluded the lab with a covalent bonding game.Tomorrow we are excited to explore the chemistry of food!

Engineering Challenge Day 3 Focus: Materials Engineering

We started off our day by creating some pop-up 'critters' out of paper - everyone came up with some cool animal designs and were excited to see the mouth really move!

Lab 1 was all about food packaging! The engineers designed packages for various food items, ranging from deli meats to soups and pasta. They learned about volume and discussed how they could meet certain other requirements such as ensuring freshness and safety while preventing changes in physical and chemical properties (i.e. spoilage, melting). Then our engineers came up with product logos and tried to market their product in a tasty manner!

In computing, Groups 1 and 2 applied what they learned about gears on Monday to create their own cranes. Using a worm gear to slow the speed and increase control, they constructed a crane able to hoist a Lego mini-figure into the air! Group 3 took one last shot at the dam repair challenge, then moved on to a new Green City Challenge task - sorting garbage! They learned how to add additional motors to our robots, creating moving "arm" attachments. They were challenged to program their arm to lift and sort Lego trash receptacles.

We also spent some time outdoors exploring at our local parks, staying in the shade to beat the heat!

In Lab 2, the engineers were excited to create their own shoes! We took a good look at our own shoes and discussed the differences in style, fastenings and materials. Then we reviewed the engineering cycle and talked especially about creating a prototype - a quick 'test run' of our final product. Prototypes are easy to change so we can try out lots of different ideas within a short time! The engineers first designed a shoe on paper, then created the sole out of cardboard. Then their creativity shone through as they built many different designs and fastenings. They tested the shoes by trying them on and then made modifications to improve fit, functionality and design. They look fantastic!

ideabots Day 2 Focus: Sensors and parts of a rover

Today we had another great day at camp! The Sumobots gathering activity was also a big hit!

During Lab 1, we learned all about sensors. The Sumobots from the gathering activity used color sensors, and we discussed many other types of sensors (temperature, touch, motion, etc). Then explorers made their own pressure sensor out of cardboard, aluminum foil, cotton balls, a disk battery, and an LED. When pressure was applied, the electrons flowed through the aluminum foil, which acted as a conductor, and lit up the LED! When no pressure was applied, the cotton balls acted as an insulator and the LED did not light.

Lab 2 today was delicious! Explorers learned about the parts of a Mars Rover and built their very own Mars Rover out of candy! Each type of candy and food item available was given a price, and each person had $10 to spend on supplies! They then constructed their rovers, being sure to include antennae, cameras, wheels, a power source, and the other of a rover!

Explorers continued to work with the Lego Wedo kits during computing time. They did an awesome job following the directions of the computer program to create different programmable items, such as a soccer kicker, an airplane, and a flying bird!

Additionally, the older group has an optional field trip to Oak Marr Pool to test out their Sea Perch Underwater Robots. Groups 1 and 2 are likely going to give the robots a try later this week, and they are invited to attend the field trip as well. We plan to be at Oak Marr from 4-5:15 on Thursday, and your child can attend as long as you provide the transportation. Please let us know if you are interested or have any other questions!

We look forward to learning about the actuator and effector of a robot tomorrow!

Nature Adventures Day 2 Focus: Our environment

Today our explorers began their day by looking deeper into the aquatic environments we discussed yesterday. Using digital microscopes, the explorers each took samples of pond water to exam. While examining the plant life, explorers were excited when Mr. Vernon showed them how to find the cell walls of plant cells on their microscopes. A few explorers were also able to find tiny aquatic insects! Afterwards, explorers returned to the case of the Mystery River and worked together to incorporate new evidence. The explorers discovered that overuse of farmland in Capitol City may have led to runoff and disturbed the Shawnee River's ecosystem. They also researched into the potential threat of chemical spills. The explorers are realizing that answering big questions without clear answers can take patience and sometimes feel tedious, but they continue to show great imagination in coming up with possible causes for the mussels' disappearance and are learning how to pull pertinent facts from the information they find.

Explorers next headed out to Nottoway Park to unwind from their morning of research. We enjoyed another day of beautiful weather and the explorers wore us out with some intense games of tag! We brought our lunches outside and enjoyed them in the shade. Back at the center, explorers headed to the robotics room to begin the Green City Challenge. We discussed how this week, we will be building Lego Mindstorm robots and programming them to perform tasks helpful to our environment. Explorers saw the Lego model of a hydroelectric dam that they will set in motion using their robots, as well as a wind turbine. They paired up and began constructing their tankbots. The real excitement during robotics came from our unexpected adventure - the earthquake! The center definitely shook, but everyone was safe and everything around the building stayed in place. After the initial scare, most explorers were excited to have felt a real earthquake!

We ended our day by discussing a threat to our environment - acid rain. Explorers learned how poisonous gases condense alongside water vapor to create potentially harmful acid rain clouds. Explorers set out to discover how we can tell if rain is acidic, learning how to use pH test strips. Explorers enjoyed watching their strips change color as the practiced taking the pH of a variety of liquids. Tomorrow we will review the results and take the pH of the steam water we collected to check for safe acidity.

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